Kingdom’s Bloodline

ously rotted away so much that they were beyond recognition, but they could still move.
But I know…
Those are the people from the guards.
It ’s their faces.
They appear in the dark.
They appear suddenly, right before your eyes… ”

Samel looked at him with pity.
He shook his head and said in a low voice, ”He ’s really gone mad. ”

Ricky ignored him.

”Sometimes there were countless heads pierced through by spears.
They filled every corner of the prison.
I had no place to stay, not even a place to sleep.
I could only stand against the wall. ”

Thales listened silently.
There was sympathy in his eyes.

”All those heads belonged to people who ’ve died a long time ago, but they still could speak.
They liked to suddenly open their eyes and speak when I squeezed through them to get my food.
Some would try to bite me. ” Zakriel tightened his grip around the dagger in his hand.
He held his shoulder with his left hand, as though that spot had been bitten by the monster he spoke of.

”I have to say, the head that strongly resembled Prince Bancroft was really well done.
His words kept me awake for several days. ”

Zakriel made a sound.
It sounded like a laugh, but not a laugh at the same time.

He stared at Thales in a rather frightening way.

”There was even one day when I woke up and saw corpses hanging from the ceiling…
Right there.
Only the whites of their eyes could be seen.
Their tongues were hanging out.
They looked like they had their heads lowered to stare at me… ” Zakriel pointed above him, and his breathing quickened.

”They swayed back and forth above him.
They twitched slowly, and sometimes, the feet as well as robes of the dead would sweep past my hair.
This would last… for around three meals, I think, ” he said faintly.

Samel could no longer hold himself back, and he spoke up.

”But you don ’t even have any light here! ”

The vice flag bearer looked at the formerly-strongest guard in sorrow.
”Wake up, Zakriel! There ’s nothing in the prison! Everything you ’ve seen is a figment of your own imagination! We ’re here to save you! ”

Zakriel sneered.
He looked at Thales again.

”Sometimes they simply didn ’t show me anything.
They would only leave behind their whispers in the dark, ” he said coldly.

Thales forced a smile.
”Whispers? ”

Zakriel nodded.
There was a glazed look on his face.

”Babies, crying…

”A baby would start crying in the endless darkness, over and over again, non-stop.

”The cycle would repeat.
They cry everywhere.
Sometimes, they were close to my ears and they became the only sounds I could hear clearly.
Sometimes they were barely noticeable, and I could only hear them when I focused my attention on them.
Sometimes they sounded wretched and miserable.
Sometimes, full of malice…
Sometimes, they wouldn ’t cry…
They ’d laugh in a very bizarre manner. ”

Zakriel sat down against the wall and curled his whole body.
There was an absentminded look on his face.

Thales shook a little and struggled to maintain his calm.

”That must have been very difficult… ”

He struggled as he spoke, ”Living… in a different world. ”

Zakriel seemed a little numb and indifferent.

”Different world…

”In the beginning, yes.
I could only tell myself over and over again: This is a test.
As time went by, I got used to it… ”

He looked up and said in a daze, ”You know, the good thing about this is that he or the things…
At least, when they appear, I can hear his voice.

”Whether it ’s true or not, that ’s the voice before his death, his laughter, his words, his orders… ”

Zakriel put the dagger ’s hilt against his forehead.

”He provides me some comfort in this eternal purgatory. ”

Thales was a little sad.
He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to ask, ”Who?

”Whose voice is it? ”

The issue attracted the attention of the other two.

Zakriel was in a daze for a while.

”It ’s him of course… ” The former Watchman of the Royal Guards revealed a sad but gratified smile.

”The former crown prince… ”

Samel swayed a little.

Thales was also slightly stunned.

”The person I saw was him before he died.
He talks to me, smiles at me, tests me, tortures me, and comes to visit me all the time. ”

Zakriel embraced himself tighter and trembled as he spoke.

”The king ’s eldest son, Midier Jadestar. ”

The hall descended into a long period of silence.

Only Zakriel ’s sobs could be vaguely heard.

There was a gloomy look on Thales ’ face.
He closed his eyes gently.

’Lived in a different world… ’

He repeated those words helplessly in his heart.

However, as Thales thought about it with his eyes closed, he felt as if he had been thrown into a raging sea.

He rose up and down with the waves.

Then, he hit a fragment of a memory he had not seen for a long time.
It dragged him back to a world he had not cared for in ages.

The unfamiliar feeling, which he had not experienced for some time was also stimulated.

That voice…

It was still that voice.

The pleasant, gentle, untroubled voice that always made him laugh.

” ’Qiren, are you scared of ghosts?

’This damn girl, she ’s asking even though she knows.

’She ’s probably going to laugh at me again. ’

” ’Yes, I remember that you ’re really scared of ghosts.
You don ’t even have the guts to watch horror movies. ” ’

’Knew it. ’

He sighed slightly and grabbed his head.

” ’But you ’ve never seen a ghost, right? Because in many people ’s world, it doesn ’t exist.
So, naturally, they can ’t see it. ” ’

The female voice on the other end of the line stopped talking for a moment.
She sounded a little depressed. 

” ’But, why don ’t you try imagining this? There ’s a group of people… who see ghosts because ghosts exist in their worldview. ’ ”

” ’Exist… ” ’

He frowned.

’What? ’

” ’When they go to bed at night, they can see a hideous face on their pillow, or on the ceiling.
Perhaps, when they open their eyes in the morning, they see a bloody head floating at the window or a dead white man squatting in the corner.
When they walk, they might see little girls in red with no face.
When they eat, they see bloody eyeballs.
At all times, they feel… ” ’

The female was a little downcast.
There was a light quiver in her voice, and she spoke falteringly, as though she was suppressing a certain emotion with all her strength.

” ’Hey, hey, don ’t scare me now, my dear madam.
You know…
that I ’m afraid of these things…

” ’So… so… ” ’

The voice trembled.

For some reason, he felt uneasy.

” ’So… for such people, ghosts are real.
At least in their own world, they are real… Really, they can see them… Yet, they can ’t tell if they ’re true or not.
In their point of view, they really see the ghosts… ” ’

It seemed like the owner or the female voice was unable to control her emotions any longer.
Countless negative emotions surged out of her like a flood charging out of a floodgate.
They filled her words, which came out of her mouth in an incredibly fragile manner like they were cracking it inch by inch.

” ’They don ’t want to and they ’re also very afraid… Th-they aren ’t watching horror movies, but… but they live in horror movies.
They struggle, but can ’t come out… There ’s truly nothing they can do.
In their lives, they truly see real, ferocious, living…
hic… ghosts… ” ’

He could not understand.
He was confused and uneasy.

He was also a little anxious.

’What happened to her? ’

” ’Hey, is the signal bad? No, hey, you… Why are you crying? Did you see something? Hey, don ’t cry.
It ’s okay.
No matter what strange things happen, I ’m here.
Don ’t be afraid.
There ’s no reason to be afraid…

” ’Qiren, I beg you, don ’t be afraid.
Don ’t be afraid of me.
I ’m not… I-I haven ’t… Please, I ’m just… I ’m just… Hic, I ’m just liv-living in a world different from you. ” ’

The gentle voice was filled with panic and fear.
Even her cries quivered.

It made him extremely alarmed.

What did she mean… by living in a different world from him?

He did not know.

He could only do his best to comfort her.

” ’Come on, take a deep breath with me.
Don ’t be afraid.
There ’s nothing to be afraid of, right? If anything happens, find a Taoist priest, a witch, or a psychic, okay? Come on, tell me… what happened? Why did you suddenly s-say— ” ’

Faint sobs could be heard from the other end of the line, but the woman ’s voice was a little calmer than before.
　

” ’Qiren, today, the psychiatrist… the psychiatrist told me the results of the diagnosis. ” ’

The female voice sounded much more downcast now.

There was even a hint of despair.

He wanted to say something, but his words were stuck in his heart, and he could only say three words.

” ’How was it? ” ’

The woman chuckled a little.

” ’Have you heard of schizophrenia? ” ’

Schizophrenia…

A sudden fear seized his mind.

” ’Schizein and phren… The Greek root for the first means disjointed and split, while the second one is mental and thought.

” ’The psychiatrist said that it ’s a disconnection and separation between your perceptions and thoughts, so some people translate it as ’psychosis ’. ” ’

The owner of the voice was sobbing softly.
She seemed to be forcing herself to go through that hardship.
She sounded as if she wanted to laugh, but could not.

He felt like a shadow had been cast over his heart as a result.
He absolutely sad and horrified.

He could only remain silent.

” ’But we have an even more common name for it. ”

He gulped.

” ’What is it called? ” ’

The woman snorted.
She spoke in a feeble and fragile manner.

” ’Split-mind disorder. ” ’

That moment, Thales suddenly opened his eyes and broke free from the boundless sea of memories.
Drenched in cold sweat, he returned to the pitch-black and silent underground prison that was the Black Prison.

He gasped and looked at Zakriel, who was kneeling in the cell in front of him like a man made of wood.

He could only feel the emptiness in his chest…

…as if he had lost something.